It doesn't bother me one bit if people want to build their own anything and I put in 50-60 hours a week before I even look at a wrench so I understand a lack of time. My point is I'm not putting together a kit of parts bought online and I'm not trying to compete with it. I was doing this because if I was frustrated with what was out there, others had to be as well and I figured I could help. If I wanted to get rich off these things, I'd stop dicking around with parts for these cars and go after building stuff for Hondas. I'm not going to lie and say I'd do it for free but I try to cover my costs and a reasonable amount of my time.

That being said, if you're happy about what I've contributed to these cars and the forum, I fail to see why you'd undermine me by trying to equate what you DIY'd on your car for what I'm doing. I'm not saying it's bad but it's far from what I've invested a good deal of time into.

 

No intentions to undermine you...was just stating that yours looked awfully similar to the ones that Beaner and myself put together several months ago. I have no qualms with you improving on a proven design.

 

Mikey there is one thing you may be leaving out, as your Experience with building aircraft, and mine, being I only have 15 years in aircraft, I gigged,tested , hung, built airframe, hydraulics, and building and testing the trucks, all on the C-5 A's built, you and I both know what we're looking for in parts, the best we can find at the best price. the reason I am testing Rudy's parts is because I am on the drag strip a lot, the one thing that I will not test is a sideways hit but I tested that with a sledgehammer, Rudy laughed,, I think the links by the manufacturer will brake at,, i think it was about one ton of sideways pressure and this may save your car. now what will the ebay parts brake at it will brake before your car brakes.
with the ebay special,, if you hit a curb ( sideways) what will break?the link, the bracket that holds the link, or will it rip the underbody out of your car . This is a hard test for me to do, but, I am sure the aftermarket parts that you're talking about buying and putting together have not been tested for side impact. I have run the rear links now for a few months and they are great.( I did have one nut come off , and my drivers rear wheel moved foward every time i took off, I am replacing all my nuts and bolts,as my nuts and bolts have been off and on about 20 times so i think i need new ones now, the locking part of the nut was no longer locking,,, So Mikey with your experience, do you think you should buy Rudy's . jim

 

Count me in.

 

I'm not making the argument that my setup is better or worst then Rudys. I was only stating that the parts I researched and chose were adequate for the everyday Joe who wanted the ability to adjust the rear camber to help solve the premature wear on the inside rears everyone seems to experience, especially when lowered. And no, these are not ebay knockoffs. The swedged tubes are used by many Dirt Modified, Winged Dirt and World Of Outlaw racers with great success. I'm pretty sure these guys experience more side impact on their suspensions than anyone else will! I was simply looking for a better (and ultimately much less expensive) alternative to the hex aluminum cambers they were passing off over on the Mercedes forums that were stripping threads on extreme use. And there are race proven kits out there that have been thoroughly tested on our R170 types such as the Top Speed Pro 1 Performance (p/n TRMBENZ-RTCA, $250 a pair).



As far as materials go, it's all subjective. One of the hottest rear camber kits made today are the ones that Honda uses on their road racers since 1995, and they are made from (shock!)7075 machined aluminum. They run from $180 to over $300.



As I said about my setup, the zinc coating on the rod ends made for a nice tight fit. I used removable blue Loctite to help lube the fit and lock down the threads, and have not had to do any tightening after several months of use. You could always try a nyloc jam nut or if room permits, double up the jam nuts. Granted I'm not road coursing or dragging (or drifting) so this setup has been more then adequate for my needs. If I had not found these parts, then I would absolutely buy Rudy's set, since his is using Chromoly which is a step up from mine. Like I said it's all subjective as to whether you want the best, or save some money on the next best.

 

[QUOTE=syfi;745046]I'm not making the argument that my setup is better or worst then Rudys. I was only stating that the parts I researched and chose were adequate for the everyday Joe who wanted the ability to adjust the rear camber to help solve the premature wear on the inside rears everyone seems to experience, especially when lowered. And no, these are not ebay knockoffs. The swedged tubes are used by many Dirt Modified, Winged Dirt and World Of Outlaw racers with great success. I'm pretty sure these guys experience more side impact on their suspensions than anyone else will! I was simply looking for a better (and ultimately much less expensive) alternative to the hex aluminum cambers they were passing off over on the Mercedes forums that were stripping threads on extreme use. And there are race proven kits out there that have been thoroughly tested on our R170 types such as the Top Speed Pro 1 Performance (p/n TRMBENZ-RTCA, $250 a pair).



As far as materials go, it's all subjective. One of the hottest rear camber kits made today are the ones that Honda uses on their road racers since 1995, and they are made from (shock!)7075 machined aluminum. They run from $180 to over $300.



As I said about my setup, the zinc coating on the rod ends made for a nice tight fit. I used removable blue Loctite to help lube the fit and lock down the threads, and have not had to do any tightening after several months of use. You could always try a nyloc jam nut or if room permits, double up the jam nuts. Granted I'm not road coursing or dragging (or drifting) so this setup has been more then adequate for my needs. If I had not found these parts, then I would absolutely buy Rudy's set, since his is using Chromoly which is a step up from mine. Like I said it's all subjective as to whether you want the best, or save some money on the next best. [/QUOTE


wow! those do look good. I had something like that on my car for about a year,, noisy, then I went to MikeR;s setup the freight but again they were noisy, because they are metal to metal, now that I have Rudy set with the neoprene, and get my car is street and strip, mostly strip, the ride is 100% better, the noise is completely gone,, and I did have the nylon lock nuts, but with so much on and off use, The locking portion just wore out, . I should replace them along, go,jim

 

The nuts Jim had come loose were not on the rods but rather the ones on the car and that is from having other arms on and off as much as he did and not because he installed these. If you do it per the book, the nuts are all supposed to be replaced when anything is done that requires their removal. Most of the time, it's fine if they've only been off once or twice but any more than that and it's an invitation for them to come loose over time. The alternative is to use loctite on all the fasteners which is good practice anyways.

Take care

 

Rudy,

As long as these come with step by step instructions for those of us that are not mechanics or rocket scientists in our day to day lives, I am in. I'm more interested in getting some of the travel back in the shocks due to lowering, as well at the camber adjustment. Dips in the road are cringe worthy in this car.

Thanks!

Jeff

 

OT but did you trim the bump stops on the rear? If so then the sway links are are what is going to help you with the BANG! On bumps. If not those stops need to be cut down. As far as install goes these are all super easy, basically a bolt on each end. Adjusting is straight forward as well but you can leave that for the alignment guy after you set them to an approximate length based on the stock pieces.

 

Great question. I dont know as the car was lowered before we got it. It was FP's car, I can ask him. In any case what would I look for to see if the stop bumpers were trimmed. Is there a thread on the forum you can point me too. Thanks!!!

Found the thread. And pictures. Great site. On a scale of 1-10 how hard is it to remove the rear shocks and trim the stops. Is this something I can do in my driveway? Do I need any special tools? Thanks.

Jeff

 

I would think FP did it but you could always ask to be sure before spending the time. It's an easy job, no special tools required. I did the entire spring/shock swap out in the garage. This thread is what I used for the bulk of the job. (You should not have to drop the arm, there are some threads specific to just shocks that may be better for your purposes/instructions)

 

Is it soup yet?


anybody get that reference?

 

Rudy,
What's the status of the arms you are testing? Do you need another tester?
I'm volunteering if you do.

Jeff

 

I apologize but I am no longer working on these as I am focusing my time on other projects.

Take care and everyone have a safe and happy 4th!

 

Is it true you are going to get rid of the Mercedes and work on another make of car completely? Subaru?

 

Quite the bummer, I was looking forward to eventually collecting the whole set.

So now, we're back to no options.

 

Agreed. I've waited almost 2 months for this option that was being tested. I'm pretty bumbed out also. I just want to get the camber in line so the tires dont wear out, and soften the ride up a bit with the adjustable sway bar links. I guess I can try and figure it out myself. Oh well. I get it, the guy works his but off, and there wasn't enough profit in selling the kit he put together to a few dozen crossfire owners.

Rudy,
Maybe you can just point us in the right direction, list the parts you were going to use, and where to get them. Maybe a little write up on how to put them together? I would even consider a donation to the cause just to be pointed in the right direction.

Yea there's a lot of info on here about how and what to use, but its all over the place, and everybody has a different opinion on quality. I would trust your opinion and expertise over anybody else's. What do you think?

Thanks for all your hard work and time and effort to this point. I'm sure many people have benefited from it.

 

Is it just me, as when Rudy comes up with an idea....someone immediately thinks they can do it cheaper and better than him...and....then....we never hear from those individuals again? I don't know why he dropped this project, but all I saw was many had a cheaper better way to do it...so why would he waste his time if no one is interested....sorry, as I was never interested, but I hate to see him throw out ideas to help only to get shot down... I think I will call Rudy tomorrow and see what is what...not like him to drop projects...but I do understand his busy schedule. And if there is no money there, then why do it...

 

I think you nailed it Doc. I would have liked to see these available for everyone too but understand how big a pain in the butt it would be.

There are some other projects that I would have liked to see come through (https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...-new-year.html) just like the intercooler. Always a fan of innovators for the crossfire world with limited aftermarket parts.

 

If a max of 1.5 degrees of adjustment is needed then these work well. Just press into the stock arms.